On a night when Sunrisers Hyderabad desperately needed a spark, debutant pacer Praful Hinge turned the contest on its head with a record-shattering new-ball burst, setting up a commanding 57-run victory over Rajasthan Royals here on Monday.
In a stunning first over that will find its place in tournament folklore, Hinge removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (golden duck), Dhruv Jurel and Lhuan-dre Pretorius, becoming the first bowler to claim three wickets in the opening over of an IPL innings.
Earlier, SRH had piled up 216 for six, driven by skipper Ishan Kishan’s blazing 44-ball 91, before rolling over the in-form RR line-up for 159 in 19 overs to snap a run of two successive defeats in emphatic fashion.
Yet the fixture will, beyond any doubt, be defined
by the 24-year-old Hinge’s dream introduction to the league. The pacer finished his spell with excellent figures of 4/34 from his 4 overs.
Hinge was originally supposed to debut on April 11 against the Punjab Kings, but a late tactical reshuffle by the SRH think-tank meant the Vidarbha quick had to wait a little longer for his first outing.
When his moment finally arrived, Hinge seized it decisively, launching his IPL journey with a fiery spell in the competition’s 19th season that immediately stamped his presence.
Sooryavanshi, hurried by pace, could only manage a steepling top edge that went straight up, with wicketkeeper Salil Arora settling under it comfortably. Dhruv Jurel was then bowled by a delivery that pitched just outside off, took the inside edge and cannoned into the stumps.
Pretorius attempted a flick but failed to clear Nitish Reddy at deep backward square leg, closing out a remarkable opening over for the debutant quick.
The other first-timer on the night, Bihar pacer Sakib Hussain, also ensured his IPL bow would be one to remember, returning superb figures of 4/24 in 4 overs.
Hussain struck in his first over as well, sending back Yashasvi Jaiswal to leave RR reeling at 4/2, and the slide worsened to 5/9 when Hinge induced Riyan Parag to slash a catch to slip.
With the top order dismantled, the contest was effectively decided, though Donovan Ferreira (69 off 44 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (45 off 32) combined for a 118-run stand that pushed the inevitable result back and trimmed the final margin. Hussain came back later to dismiss Ferreira, Jofra Archer and Ravi Bishnoi.
Between them, Hinge and Hussain produced combined figures of 8/58 from eight overs, an effort that perfectly encapsulated SRH’s dominance.
Having progressed through Vidarbha’s age-group system, Hinge honed his skills under Varun Aaron and Senthilnathan at the MRF Pace Foundation, where director of cricket Glenn McGrath facilitated a training stint in Australia for the young pacer.
Earlier in the evening, Kishan had set the tone with a commanding knock before Reddy and Arora provided a late flourish to push the home side beyond the 210 mark.
Kishan was in imperious touch throughout his innings, striking eight fours and six sixes while adding 88 runs with Heinrich Klaasen (40 off 26 balls) in a crucial partnership.
In the closing overs, Reddy hammered a brisk 13-ball 28, and Salil Arora remained unbeaten on 24 off 13 balls, ensuring SRH finished with a formidable total.
The innings had begun with Abhishek Sharma attempting an aggressive blow off the very first ball, charging down the track but only slicing a Jofra Archer (2/37 in 4 overs) delivery to the deep, where Ravi Bishnoi completed a tidy catch.
Kishan responded by flicking Archer over short fine leg for four and then sending another delivery sailing over deep mid wicket for six.
In Archer’s next over, Kishan cleared third man for a maximum off Nandre Burger, then launched Sandeep Sharma straight back over his head for a towering six and followed it with a four off Tushar Deshpande through the midwicket region.
While Kishan was finding the fence regularly, Travis Head struggled to find rhythm, and his scratchy stay ended when RR captain Riyan Parag brought himself on after the powerplay and had Head caught in the deep by Donovan Ferreira for a laboured 18-ball 18, a self-bowling change that proved effective.
Kishan, undisturbed by Head’s departure, continued to score freely and brought up his 50 off 30 balls with a massive six over deep midwicket off leg-spinner Bishnoi.
Riding on Kishan’s boundary spree, SRH reached 100 in 10.3 overs, with Deshpande conceding 21 runs in that particular over.
Klaasen then lifted Bishnoi over long-on for six and added a four off Archer to keep the pressure on the bowlers.
Kishan followed up by cracking three consecutive boundaries off Archer to move to 91, just as the lights briefly went out inside the stadium.
Attempting another big pull, Kishan miscued, and Sandeep completed the catch off his own bowling despite colliding with wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, drawing a close to a commanding captain’s knock that had already set SRH on course for a decisive win.
(With PTI Inputs)
